audiofeline / audiopheline
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The Focal Clear MG pairs wonderfully with the ampsandsound Kenzie Ovation. I have to think the pairing would be just as good with the OG.
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I got a SW51+ a few weeks ago and have been enjoying the Clear with it. Iām still trying to get a handle on the sound of the pairing. In some ways I love it. The amp does something to reduce the aggressiveness of the Clear and makes for a mellower listening experience. There isnāt as much bass bloom as Iād anticipated (this bloom was too pronounced with my ZDT Jr., for me). I need to start doing some A/B comparisons between the SW51+ and my tube hybrid amp, the Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid, which is an excellent pairing for the Clear.
My audiofeline assumes the amp is for her - after all, itās got a cat on the front!
Itās good to hear that. The Forge also seems tempting, with its various output impedance options.
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My Ovation has five ohm taps - Lo, 8, 32, 100, and Hi. Fun trying to match my different headphones with their optimal feed.
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Yes, itās on my radar as a possible future upgrade for this very reason.
I realize itās probably best to have a couple of amps - since my goal is to settle on having four or five different headphones - but it would be cool to have a single amp that could fuel them all!
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Whatās your preferred tap for the Clear?
I love the 32-ohm tap. I sometimes play with 100 ohms, but it all seems a little overbloomed at that tap. I go back and forth between the two but ultimately go with 32.
Can you describe the difference in sound between the lo, 8 and 32? Is 32 a nice little low end boost?
Thatās a good way to describe the difference. On the mids and highs, I donāt detect a huge difference (other than maybe in overall volume). But on the bass, thereās more presence, more oomph in the low end as you scale up the taps to 32. At 100 it starts to muddy up just a tad (though it might be just what some listeners want).
32 feels like the sweet spot - the most muscular presentation without the sacrifice of any detail or overall balance.
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New here and having a bit of confusion as to how to navigate. Found a post similar to the one I was going to make, clicked the link and it said that topic was merged into this thread, but I canāt find where in the thread to see replies without scrolling thru the whole thread. I know I am missing something here. Anyway, I have an issue with my Focal Clears and I guess this is where I should post, yet?
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Right place. What happens with your Clears?
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What happens is this: When I tilt my head forward the topheavy headband slides down toward my forehead, and when I recline and tilt my head back, the headband slides toward the back of my head. So unless I am sitting or standing with my head upright, the phones keep moving and it feels clunky and bothersome. These phones are not uncomfortable, they donāt clamp too tightly, the pads are soft, itās just that they donāt lend themselves to doing anything other than sitting stock still while listening. For maximum appreciation of music, we shouldnāt be multitasking anyway, but we all do to some extent, requiring at the least some momentary change of posture.
What I would like is that the phones fit more snugly to my head, as my Oppo PM-3 closed over ear headphones do. Those are the phones I use for listening to my Astell&Kern DAP on the go, and although they clamped too tightly at first, having been broken in they are now comfortable to wear for long stretchesā¦ and they donāt move when my head moves. I bought the Clears three years ago for home use, as I wanted a better sounding set with the kind of sound stage an open model can give, but I have hardly used them at all - mostly because of the loose and clunky fit, secondly because the ten-foot stock cable isnāt long enough to reach to my bed where I like to listen (reclining or laying flat). And I wonāt go into the third issue, which is that my cat likes to chew things like laces, strings and cables and I donāt like having to worry that sheās doing that or chase her off when she does.
I really really wanted to love these Clears, based on all I read about them before buying them and my expectations, but it hasnāt worked out that way, and I donāt know what to do other than just get used to the clunky feel of them and live with it (having spent the equivalent of an entire monthās income on them), or sell them and buy a different model by some other brand.
So there you have it. I suppose I will soon be making a post in the Purchase Advice section (preliminary discussion with a sales agent at a competing online retail store has led me to consider the Aeon 2 open headphones, a strong contender in my next gear investment) and putting these barely used Clears up on eBay.
Edit: FWIW I am a six-foot male adult with a proportionately large head, so itās not that the Clears are too big for my head.
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You may try these:
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Thank you, generic, excellent and inexpensive suggestion. Iāll give it a try, with hopes that the adhesive on the nuggets doesnāt tear the cloth underside of the headband when removing them, should I decide itās not a workable solution and end up selling the Clears.
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It seems like you need to be really carful cleaning Clear earpads and headband. I just bought a set of used Clear Pros. They had a brand new set of pads on them, but the headband literally stank - No way I would want that on my head, but I wanted to give them a listen. I ended up spraying Dettol disinfectant spray on the underside of the headband and immediately blotting it dry with kitchen paper - No rubbing, as that seems to be a killer, especially when the fabricās wet. I did this a couple of times, and now theyāre pretty good - clean and fresh smelling. The Dettol was ācrisp linenā scented, so now they small lightly of that. To keep the headband fresh Iāve entombed it in a neoprene cover, however I might swap it for a knitted version as itās a little hard and uncomfortable.
I found that when I was blotting the headband dry quite a bit of red colour came out.
I wonder if Focal purposely used such poor fabric as a form of built-in obsolescence and to reduce resale values.
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The original silver and gray Clear is known for both the pads and headband getting ugly fast. Iām now running black Dekoni fleece pads, and like them better than factory (note that the tone may be affected). Many of us have long owned the gray knit cover (below). It looks like a grannyās knitting project Christmas gift on my head, but itās comfortable and does the job.
Focal has had spotty pad availability, high prices, and inconsistent products (see discussion of thin and firm versus thick and spongy). I think itās a supplier or management issue rather than planned obsolescence.
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All the above is what stops me from buying a Focal.
Sad but real. Great sounding headphones, questionable material choices.
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Keep in mind that an unnamed other brand tends to have its critical and functional components fail, while Focal has good general quality (e.g., drivers, chassis). The issues are often cosmetic, and the high price points open the door to cosmetic concerns that would likely be ignored with cheaper items. The Focal pad shortage was resolved earlier this year too.
Sennheiserās pads and headband cushions donāt last long, but are black so they hide dirt and easily swapped. Iāve replaced my HD-600 ear pads 3-4 times and the headband pad once.
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The unnamed brand isnāt among my favourite either.
Something I like to pay for is consistency and nor one nor the other offer it to me IMO.
Sennheiser pads and headband donāt last long but can be swapped for a fraction of the price (original parts) in comparison.
For sure the functional structure of Focals is very consistent and has nothing to do with unnamed brand.
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The one thing about Focal headphones that particularly worries me, as a Clear owner, is the creaky headband. There are plenty of reports of snapped headbands out there, although, of course, itās impossible to know how representative or common such reports are.
What Iāve come to think about the headband is the following: first, that my headband is becoming creakier over time, which is a source of concern; second, that it is made of plastic, in large part; and, third, that it is preposterously expensive to replace.
I realize the Utopiaās headband is made of carbon fibre, but there are still reports of creakiness. I donāt know if that bodes ill for the headphonesā longevity.
On its own, this potentially fragile headband wouldnāt be an issue. But the short(ish) life cycle of Focalās products - Elear, Elegia, OG Clear all being extinct now - also makes me nervous about buying again from Focal, especially as Iām someone who buys headphones fairly infrequently and who likes to keep them for a decent amount of time. At some point the exorbitantly expensive Clear pads will no longer be availableā¦
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